Printing-meter.



I'. F. KINNBY.

PRINTING METER.

nrmorrxol Imm 11mm, 190s.

987,725. Patented 1m28, 1911.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 14 I ummm l l l l' I P. F. KIN NEY.

PRINTING METER APPLIULTIOI FILBDLUB. 8, 1908.

Patented Man-28, 1911.

,wfmfff Hank j? zrzey.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK l'. KINNEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNEASSIGN- MENTS, '1.0 MINERALLAC ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ACORPORA- TION 0F ILLINOIS.

PRINTING-METER.

Patented Mar. 28, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK F. KINNEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Printing-Meters, ofwhich the following is a full, clear., conclse, and exact description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to printing meters, particularly to printingwattmeters.

In taking readings from a plurality of meters it is desirable that thesereadings be taken simultaneously, in order to save time, andautomatically, in order to insure accuracy. Meter reading is becoming tobe quite a problem at the present day, and the expenses involved intaking individual readings of a great number of meters is considerable,and a freat deal of error results.

The main object of my invention, therefore, is to provide improved meansfor automatically obtaining permanent readings simultaneously from aplurality of meters. This I accomplish electrically by mechanismcontrolled by a single time device, such as a clock. The time intervalof taking the readings can be made anything desired by adjustment of theclock mechanism. In

a large building, for instance, where a'great number of meters are emnloyed, a single clock could control the taking of the readings from allthe meters, and the clock could be at any distance from the meters andconnected therewith only through wires.

My invention is also of great utility and convenience in testing workwhere it is essential that readings be taken simultaneously from aplurality of testing instruments at certain time intervals, as, forexample, every hour.

I provide a reading attachment which may be applied to meters ofdifferent con`- struction, and which comprises integrating mechanism forprinting Wheels and an electro-magnet controlling the operation of aprinting pad, inking ribbon, and record paper being suitably arrangedand caused to travel between the pad and' printing Wheels. any number ofmeters can be connected with a common circuit, current llow throughwhich is controlled by suitable The various electro-magnets of clockmechanism placed at any distance from the meters.

In the accompanyin drawings, which illustrate the constructlon andapplication of my invention, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the metershowing my im roved reading attachment applied thereto, ig. 2 is a frontv1ew ofthe attachment, Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken online 3-3, F1g: 2, Fig. 4 shows the gear train intervenmg between themeter movable part and the attachment, Fig. 5 is a perspective Viewshowing the coupling means for connecting the lmeter movable part withthe attachment, and Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic representation of the clockmechanism and circuit controlled thereby.

In Fig. 1 I have represented the meter 1, having the damping disk 2mounted on the spindle 3, suitably pivoted in bearings 4. A shelf 5supports the damping magnet G which spans `the damping disk. The spindlehas a worm thread 7 which meshes with the gear 8 carried on the arbor 9journaled between the supporting plate 10 and the supporting plate 11,which latter plate is secured to the ends of posts 12. The arbor 9 atits front end carries the gear 13 which meshes with the intermediatetransmission gear 14, suitably pivoted to the plate 11, and this gear inturn meshes with the gear 15 mounted on the arbor 16, which is pivotedin the plate 11, and in the bracket 17 extending downwardly from saidplate, as shown. The front end of the arbor 16 carries the couplingcrank 18 having a coupling slot 19. The main supporting plate 20 for theprinting attachment is adapted to be secured to the posts 21, as bymeans of screws 22., Extending from this supporting plate are the posts23 carrying on their front ends the front supporting plate 211. 0n saidposts there is also mounted a front intermediate supporting plate 25 andthe rear intermediate supporting plate 26. Pivoted in said intermediateplates and in the brackets 27 extending from plate 26 is the arbor 28,at whose rear end is carried the coupling crank 29 from whose endextends the crank pin 30, which extends into coupling slot 19 when theattachment is applied to the meter so that movement of the couplingcrank 18 by the meter will be transmitted to the arbor 28.

On this arbor 28 is secured a driving pinion 30 which meshes with thegear 3l mounted on arbor 32, which pivot-s in and between theintermediate plates 25 and 26. On the arbor 28 are also mounted carry-'oi'er gear structures 33 which coperate with carrying gearing 34 on theshaft 32. On the shaft 32 there are also mountedxthe units, tens,hundreds, thousands, and so on, number wheels 35, each having tendigits, these digits being in the form of raised printing characters. Ido not claim the construction of this integrating mechanism, but itsoperation is clearly understood by those skilled in the art, continuousrotation of arbor 2S resulting in rotation first of the units wheel,then carry-over operations from one units wheel to the other, everycomplete revolution of one order wheel resulting in a tenth revolutionof the succeeding order wheel.

As best shown in Fig. 2, a feed drum 36 'carries a roll of inking ribbon37, the ribbon passing over the guide rods 38, 39, to the intake drum40, these drums having knurled heads 41, 42, respectively, whereby theymay be readily turned to advance the ribbon. The ribbon 37 passes by anda short distance from the printing wheels. Pivoted on the rod 43 is thespool 44 supporting the record paper roll 45, the paper passing over theguide rod or roller 46 parallell under the inlrinfr ribbon and over theinta te spool 47, the pivot rod 43 for the paperA supply spool beingextended upwardly from the supporting plate 20 at one side of theintegrating mechanism and the pivot rod 48 for the intake spoolextending from the plate 20 at the opposite side of the integratingmechanism. Below the integrating mechanism is mounted the electro-magnetcore 49, this core containing a suitable windin not shown. The armature50 for the e ectromagnet passes through the core, and at its upper endcarries the frame supporting the inking pad 6l, the ad extendingparallel to the printing line ci) the printing wheels, and normally ashort distance below the record paper. Vhen the electro-magnet isenergized, its armature, with the pad frame is carried upwardly, and thepad 61 presses the record paper and ribbon against the type characterson the printing wheels and the record paper receives an impression. Ialso provide means whereby the movement of the armature operates ratchetmechanism for controlling the operation of the intake spool 47 so thatsaid spool is rotated a suicient distance after each printing operationto carry a clear section of paper into the printing field. This ratchetmechanism comprises the bell crank lever 62 ivoted at its elbow 63 tothe supporting p ate 20. A pawl 64 pivoted at the left end of this leveris engaged by the spring 65 carried by said lever to be pressed againstthe ratchet wheel 66 ture. This threading engagement of the nut with theend 71 allows longitudinal movement of the nut on said stem andadjustment thereby of the ratchet mechanism. lVith this arrangement,when the armature is moved upwardly to cause printing,` the lever 62 isrotated and the pawl 64 carried over the ratchet wheel to engage the.next tooth, so that when the armature returns to its normal position,the lever is restored and the pawl 64 carried to cause rotation of theratchet wheel, and thereby rotation of the intake spool to advance therecord paper. Pivoted between the supporting lates 24 and 25 on thearbor 72 is the whee 73 having printing characters 1 to 24 on itsperiphery indicative of hours, and the ,wheel 1s arranged so that thesecharacters will be in the printing line with the characters on theintegrating mechanism printing wheels. Secured to the hour wheel is aratchet wheel 73 whose teeth are engaged by a pawl '74 carried at oneend of the lever 75, which is pivoted at an intermediate int 76 to theplate 24 below the hour whee In this plate 24 there is a vertical slotr77 through which extends a pin 78 carried by the printing frame 60. Thearm 79 of the lever extends to the left, and above and in the path ofthe pin 77, while the end of said arm is connected by a -spring 80 withsome stationary part of the frame, as for instance, the core frame, asshown. Now when the armature is attracted upwardly, the pin 77 iscarried therewith and rotates the lever 75 to drop the pawl 74 intoengagement with the next tooth. When the electro-magnet becomesdenergized, the weight of the armature and the force of the spring 80 onpin 77 cause the armature to be quickly restored, during whichrestoration the hour wheel 73 is given one advancement by the pawl 74,as the lever 79 is rotated by spring 80. A spring 81 connects the pawl74 with the su porting plate 24, as shown, and assists to liold the pawlin engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 73. l

In Fig. 6 I have diagrammatically illustrated clock controlled contactmechanism and the energizing circuits for the printing electro-magnetscontrolled thereby. The clock mechanism is represented diagrammaticallyat C and comprises a wheel 82 rotated one revolution per hour, thiswheel having a single cam notch 83. Pivoted at 84 to some suitablestationary part of the clock mechanism is the supporting block 85 ofinsulating material carrying at its lower end a cam arm 8G having thecam end 87, which rides over the surface of the wheel 82 and which dropsinto the slot 83 at each revolutiou of the wheel 82, which is once eachhour. At the top of the block are mounted two parallel contact -springs88 and 89, the contact spring 89 being slightly longer than the spring88. The spring 88 has a contact arm 90 extending upwardly and laterallytherefrom with its lateral end disposed over the spring 89 to be engagedthereby when said spring 89 is raised, thereby causing electricalcontact between said springs. Coperating with the ends of these contactsprings is a snail cam 91, suitably connected with the clock mechanismto be driven at the rate ot' one revolution per minute. The position ofthe tip 92 of this snail cam is such that when the end 87 of arm 8Gdrops into the slot 83, the spring 88 will have dro Jped from the tip 92to the lowest point o the snail cani, but the end of spring 89 isretained on the tip so that the contact arm 90 will make contact withthe spring 89 to electrically connect these springs together. Thisposition of the springs 88 and 89 is only for a short instant, as thesnail cam is ot small diameter and rotates quite rapidly, so that thespring 89 soon drops from the cam tip 92 to again disengage from thecontact arm 90, both springs then engaging the lower part of the snailcam, and practically parallel with each other. The cam wheel 82 thencarries around the groove 83 to raise the end Stand to rotate the block85, thereby swinging the springs 88 and 89 to raise them clear of thesnail cam 91. Therefore, once each hour the end 87 will drop and thesprings 88, 89 will be brought into electrical contact, but the periodof contact is very short.

At the left of Fig. G are shown the circuits which the contact mechanismcontrols. represents a supply circuit fed by the gen crator G which maybe either an alternating current or a direct current generator.Connected with said main circuit are a plurality of branch supplycircuits B for supplying current to translating devices T, and in eachot these circuits there is included .a meter M. Also associated witheach meter is a reading attachment, of which the electromagnet 49 isdiagrammatically illustrated. The windings of all of the electro-magnetsare shown as connected in bridge of the controlling circuit D, whichconnects with the armatures a, Z), of the relay 1'. The cont-acts c, d,for the armatures connect with the limbs of the main circuit A, asshown, the armatures being normally held from their con` tacts bysprings c and f. The winding of relay r is in the circuit E connectedwith and controlled by the contact springs 88, 89, and

including a source of current s. As shown the clock C is indicating thehour and .the end 87 of arm 86 has dropped into the cam slot 83 andspring 88 is dropped from the cam tip 92, the springs being therefore inelectrical contact to close the circuit' E and to cause energization ofrelay r. The armal tures a and b Vare therefore attracted against theircontacts c and el to connect the reading attachment circuit D with themain circuit A to cause actuation of the electro-magnets [19 to take thereadings of the meters. Af-

ter an instant of closure of this circuit D t'or just a sutlicientlength of time to cause the brief energization of the printingelectromagnets the spring 89 leaves the cam tip 92 and circuit E isopened and relay 7' is denergized to cause disconnection ot' circuit D'from lthe main circuit.

The clock controlled contact mechanism for the printing magnet circuitscan, of course, be at any distance from the meters and the metersthemselves can be separated any distance, but at certain predeterminedintervals all the meters are simultaneously read and the readings arealmost certain to be correct. No work is necessary at the meters afterthc automatic reading thereof by the reading attachment, as all thesteps necessary-for taking a reading are performed automatically, as forexample, the restoration of the electro-magnet armature and theadvancement of the record paper. The record paper receives an imprintfrom the integrating mechanism printing wheels indicative of theelectrical measurement by the meters, and the paper receives asimultaneous imprintl from the hour wheel indicative of the time, eachelectrical measurement reading having, therefore, associated with it acharacter indicative of the time when such reading was taken. All theserecords are obtained at each meter by the use ot a singleelectro-magnet, and only two wires are necessary from t-he controllingblocl to the various printing attachment electro-magnets.

Instead of having the printing circuits controlled automatically by thetime controlled contact mechanisn'i, it is evident that some mechanicalswitch, such as a push button, could be substituted for the contactmechanism in circuit- E. The circuit arrangements could also bedifferent from those shown.

Having thus described my invention de sire to secure the followingclaims by Letters Patent:

l. ln combination, a plurality of indicating instruments having movablemembers, printing wheels for each instrument connected with the movablemembers to be actuated thereby in proportion to the actuations of saidmovable members, record-mechanism for each instrument, an electromagnetfor each instrument forassociating the recordnism at a distance from theindicatin the printing wheels, a common circuit for all of theelectro-magnets, a main circuit for supply-ing said common circuit,contact mechanism at a distance :from the instruT ments for controllingthe connection of the electro-magnet circuit with the supply circuit,and clock mechanism for controlling the operation of the contactmechanism to cause simultaneous readings to be taken at the instrumentsat predetermined intervals.

8. In combination, a plurality of measuring instruments, a printingattachment for each instrument, an electro-magnet at each instrument forcontrollin the printing mechanism, a common circuit for theelectromagnets, a main supply circuit, a relay controlling theconnection of said main supply circuit with the electro-magnet circuit,and contact mechanism at a distance from the instruments for controllinga circuit for said relay to cause simultaneous actuation of saidelectromagnets.

4. In combination, a plurality of measuring instruments, a printingattachment for each instrument, an electro-ma et at each instrument forcontrolling t e printing mechanism, a common circuit for theelectromagnets, a main supply circuit, a relay controlling theconnection of said main supply circuit with the electro-magnet circuit,contact mechanism at a distance from the instruments for controlling acircuit for said relay, and means for electrically causing opera-tion ofthe contact mechanism to periodically close the relay circuit .wherebysimultaneous readings of the printing attachments are takenperiodically.

5. In combination, a main current supply circuit, a plurality of branchcircuits leading from said main circuit each to translating devices, anelectricity meter in each branch circuit, printing mechanism for eachmeter for printing the measurement values thereof, an electro-magnet foreach printing mechanism, a Supply circuit with which the electro-magnetsare all connected, and contact mechanism for controlling the connectionof said electrcrmagnet supply circuit with the -main circuit whereby theelectromagnets may all be simultaneously actuated and simultaneousreadings taken at the meters.

6. In combination, a main current suppl circuit, a plurality of branchcircuits leari ing from said main circuit each to translating devices,an electricity meter in each branch circuit, printing mechanism for eachmeter for printing themeasurement values thereof, an electro-magnet foreach rinting mechanism, a supply circuit with w ich the electro-magnetsare lall connected, and time controlled contact mechanism forcontrolling the connection of the electro-magnet circuit with the maincircuit whereby said electro-magnets -are periodically simultaneouslyenergized and the printing mechanisms periodically actuated.

7. In combination, a main current suppl circuit, a pluralit of branchcircuits lea ing from said main circuit each to translating devices, anelectricity meter in each branch circuit, printing mechanism for eachmeter for printing the measurement values thereof, an electro-magnet foreach printing mechanism, a supply circuit with which the electro-magnetsare all connected, a relay controlling the connection of theelectromagnet circuit, and contact mechanism at a distance from themeters for electrically controlling a circuit for said relay.

8. In combination, an electricity meter having a rotatable armature,integrating mechanism associated with the meter, printing members forsaid mechanism adapted to be actuated by the armature proportionately tothe rotations thereof, an electromagnet to move a suitablerecord-receiving material against the printing Wheels, and means forenergizing said electromagnet at desired intervals, whereby a record isprint- -ed to indicate the sum of the actuations of the meter.

9. In combination, an electricity meter having a movable member, aprinting attachment for the meter, integrating mechanism carried by theattachment and directly connected with said movable member, printingwheels for the integrating mechanism, a time-printing wheel associatedwith said printing wheels, an electromagnet adapted upon energization tocarry a suitable recordreceiving material against the printing Wheels toreceive a record, a pawl-andratchet mechanism controlled by theelectroniagnet to advance the record-receiving material after eachprinting operation, and additional paWl-and-ratcliet mechanism actuatedupon denergization of said electromagnet to advance the time printingwheel.

10. In a printing attachment for electricity meters, the combination ofintegrating mechanism connected with the movable member of the meter towhich the attachment is applied, printing wheels for the integratingmechanism, a print-ing ribbon adjacent the printing wheels, a supplyspool and an intake spool for holding a suitable record-receiving strip,an electro-magnet adapted upon energization to carry the strip Aandribbon against the printing wheels whereby the strip receives a printedrecord, a lever connected with the armature of said electro-magnet, apawl carried b said lever, a ratchet wheel carried by the intake spooland engaged by the paivl, said ratchet lever being` reciprocated uponope 'ation of the electro-magnet to cause the pawl and ratchet mechanismto advance the intake spool after each printing operation.

1l. In a printing attachment for elec` tricity meters, the combinationof integrating mechanism adapted for connection With a movable member ofthe meter to which the attachment is applied, record members for theintegrating mechanism, record receiving mechanism adjacent the recordmembers, an

electro-magnet adapted upon energization to carry the record receivingmechanism against the record members to receive a record, an auxiliaryrecord member, a ratchet ivheel connected ivith said member, a -paivlengaging said' ratchet Wheel, a lever carrying said pawl, said leverbeing engaged by the electro-magnet armature upon attraction thereof toset the pawl with respectv to the ratchet Wheel, and a spring foractuating said lever to cause the pavvl to rotate the ratchet Wheel uponthe return of the armature to normal position, said spring assisting inrestoring the armature to normal position.

1Q. In combination,` an electricity meter having integrating mechanism,record members driven by the integrating mechanism,

record receiving mechanism, an electro-mag,

net for associating the record receiving mechanism with the recordmembers, acircuit. for said electro-magnet, contact mechanism for saidcircuit, a clock for controlling said contact. mechanism to periodicallyclose the circuit whereby the electro-magnet is periodically energizedto cause the record receiving mechanism to receive a record from therecord members, an auxiliary time recording member at the meter, andmeans controlled by the electromagnet for causing actuation of said timerecording member to associate a time record with each record taken fromthe record members.

13. In combination, an indicating instrument having a movable armature,a shaft driven by said armature, a clutch-crank carried by said shaft,an integrating attachment adapted to be readily brought into and outofassociation with said movable armature, a driving shaft extending fromsaid integrating mechanism, a clutch-crank at the end of said shaft, oneof said clutchcranks being provided with a clutch-pin and the other witha slot for locking the two shafts together upon application of theintegrating mechanism to the indicating instrument. i

14. In combination, an lelectricity meter having a movable member, aprinting attachment for the meter, a plurality of integrating wheelsforming part of the attachment, coupling means for automaticallylconnecting the integrating Wheels With the movable member ot the meterwhen the attachment is applied, printing Wheels associated with theintegrating Wheels, a timerecording Wheel associated With the printingwheels, record-receiving mechanism adjacent the printing wheels and thetime-recording Wheel, an electromagnet having an armature carrying saidrecord-receiving mechanism, energization of said electromagnet causingthe record-receiving mechanism to be applied'to the printing'vvheelstoreceive a record indicative of the meter operation and of' the time whenthe record Was taken, a record-ribbon for the record-receivinglmechanism, means for advancing said record-receiving ribbon upondenergization of the electromagnet, and means for advancing thetime-recording Wlieei upon denergization of the electromagnet.

15. In combination, an electricity meter having a movable member, adetachable supporting frame carried by the meter, a plurality oftotalizer printing Wheels carried tro'magnet causing therecord-receiving` mechanism to be associated with the printing wheels toreceive a record therefrom indicative of the meter operation.

16. In combination, an electricity meter, a coupling member driven bythe meter at a rate proportional to the measurements to be recorded, asupporting plate adapted for attachment to the meter, a row of totalizerprinting Wheels supported from said plate, a companion coupling memberextending from said printing Wheels and adapted automatically to engagewith the coupling member on the meter when the supporting plate isapplied to the meter, record-receiving mechanism supported from theplate, and electromagnetic mechanism for associating said recordreceiving mechanism with the printing Wheels to receive vprintingimpressions indicative of the meter operation.

17. In combination, an electricity meter, a coupling member driven bythe meter at a. rate proportional to the measurements to be recorded, asupporting plate adapted for attachment to the meter, a row oftotalizerprinting wheels supported from said plate, a companion couplingmember e'xten'ding from said printing wheels and adapted automaticallyto engage with the coupling member on the meter when the supportingplate is applied to the meter, record-receivlng mechanism supported fromthe plate, electromagnetic mechanism for associating saidrecord-receiving mechanism with the printing wheels to receive printingimpressions indicativc of the meter operation, and a time-recordingwheel for marking thereoord-receiving mechanism to indicate the time atwhich the records are taken from the meter recording wheels.

18. In combination, an electricity meter, a coupling member supportedfrom the meter and adapted to be driven at a rate proportional to theactuations of the meter, a supporting frame adapted for attachment tothe meter, a row of totalizer printing wheels mounted on said supportingframe, a companion coupling member connected with said printing wheelsand adapted to auto` matically engage with the coupling member on themeter when the supporting frame is attached to the meter, whereby themeteractuations are transferred to the printing Wheels, a time-recordingwheel mounted in the row with the meter-recordin wheels, arecord-receiving mechanism adJacent the printing wheels, and anelectromagnet controlling the operation of said record-receivingmechanism to receive impressions from the meter-recording Wheels and thetime-recording wheel, said time-recording Wheel being controlled by theoperations of said electromagnet.

19. In combination, a meter, a plurality of record printing wheelsconnected with the meter, record-receiving mechanism, an electromagnetadapted upon energization to apprinting Wheels to receive a record ofthe' ply the record-receiving mechanism to the meter-operation,clock-controlled circuit mechanism for causing energization of saidelectromagnet at predetermined intervals, and a time-recording Wheelassociated with the meter-recording Wheels, said time-recording wheelbeing controlled by the electromagnet after each record-printingoperation to assume a printing position indicative of the time at whichthe next record will be printed.

20. In combination, a meter, a recordmarking mechanism, anelectromagnet'controlling the operation of the record-marking mechanismto mark a record indicative of the meter-operation, and a time-recordingmember for associating a time-mark with each operation-mark on therecord, the settin of of said electromagnets, whereby readings ofk saidinstruments are taken simultaneously at suitable intervals.

22. The combination of a plurality of electric meters, a rotatablearmature for each meter, integrating mechanism connected with eacharmature to be actuated thereby in proportion to the actuations thereof,recordmechanism associated with each meter, an electromagnet for eachmeter to associate the record-mechanism with the integrating mechanism,whereby a record is made in accordance with the actuations of thearmature, a common energizing circuit for said electromagnets, and atime-controlled switch for controlling said circuit to causesimultaneousl actuation of said electromagnets.

23. The combination of a plurality of electric meters, a movablearmature for each meter, integrating mechanism connected with eacharmature to be actuated thereby in proportion to ythe actuationsthereof, recordmechanism associated with each meter, an

electromagnet for each meter to associate the record-mechanism with theintegrating mechanism, whereby a record is made in accordance with theactuations of the armature, and circuit-connections for saidelectromagnets to cause simultaneous actuation thereof.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 4th dav of August,A. D. 1908.

FRANK F. KINNEY. Witnesses:

CHARLFs J. SCHMIDT, LEONARD W. NovANDEB.

